Is A Vote For Ukip A Recipe For Catastrophy in the light of their lack of competence & emdless squabbling?

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Hi,

minded that Ukip has pretensions to a role in Governance it is of course legitimate not only to question what policies they may espouse but in the light of CLICK HERE clearly there is a great deal to question!

Not least of the facts that need questioning is the fact that the individual parachuted in at the last minute, when

Ukip MEP Tim Aker had proved incompetent to produce the manifesto and been unceremoniously tossed out, has no apparent background or signs of competence as a researcher nor any gravitas to take over such a key role.

It is clear that the best was you assess the abilities of

another of Ukip’s MEPs Suzanne Evans, tasked with producing this complex and detailed key job in just a few weeks is to assess other work she has done.

Based upon the facts and the staggeringly inept performances she has made on TV and the lack of visible achievements it does harbour ill for Ukip. Clearly there is no one else of any gravitas or competence to carry out the task of producing Ukip’s manifesto.

The last manifesto Nigel Farage commended to Ukip and the electorate and for which he personally provided the foreword Ukip’s leader at the time of the election, Malcolm Lord Pearson, did not even bother to read and eventually Nigel Farage denounced it as drivel seeking to blame anyone but himself, despite his pivotal role!

So let us analyse Suzanne Evans’ visible efforts in the field of politics todate, as commended by Nigel Farage as being ‘Brilliant …’:

Why Vote UKIP? What UKIP stands for…

The UKIP deputy leader Suzanne Evans has written a pamphlet as a part of the ‘Why Vote…’ series published by Biteback Publishing.

I’ve read it, so you don’t have to.

On the whole, the book is written with the self-confident feel of a doomed-to-fail A-level essay – the pupil given the assignment and launching forth into what she considers a magnum opus based solely on the York notes. Footnote numbers in the text lead simply to footnotes, and where references are given, they are incorrectly or incompletely listed, affording the reader little chance of consulting the source material. But the source material in most cases seems to be articles in the Daily and Sunday Express, and where these haven’t actually been written by senior UKIP figures, they have an obvious leaning in that direction to say the least.

The introduction

The first 10% of the book (Kindle edition), is given to outspoken defence of UKIP whilst attacking other parties (note use of the favourite line of UKIP defence – smear), interspersed with tired, jingoistic, post-imperialist nonsense.

It is hard to see a mention of any policy or fundamental ideology listed other than leaving the EU, one of the reasons being it’s “theoretically possible for 500 million” people to come to the UK.

Chapter 1 – leaving the EU

This is unsurprisingly the theme of the first chapter. UKIP watchers will not be surprised to learn that this drags out all the usual UKIP tropes that bear so little relation to what people in the real world call ‘facts’. The whole chapter is an attack – again, not one policy other than the title of the chapter – not even how this policy would be practically achieved.

Chapter 2 – immigration

UKIP has “the least racist immigration policy” being put forward by any party – which of itself, is a chilling way for a party to describe any policy.

Our ‘tiny’ island is being swamped with a population density of 680 per square mile (actual figure is 96 – this figure would make the population 166.5 million!). We need to build a house every 7 seconds (no reference given but this comes from right-wing lobby group Migration Watch not the ONS as stated) and so how long before our ‘green and pleasant land’ is concreted over?

As the text goes on, it becomes more rhetorical and frenzied in style. As in the first chapter, most of the text is given over to attack. One ‘fact’ is 16 ‘alleged illegal’ immigrants were fighting deportation at a cost of £1.5 million to the taxpayer. The source for this is ‘government figures released 16 April 2014’ – however the actual source for this story is the Daily Express of that date which is also not referenced – so the government documents cannot be traced – though from other sources, it seems that these ‘alleged illegal’ immigrants are in fact asylum seekers in detention whilst their cases are heard.

The author states the case that the current immigration policy is ‘arguably racist’ in that it discriminates in favour of ‘predominantly white’ and ‘Christian’ EU citizens. This is laughable nonsense – following this argument, UK-only desks at border control would also be racist.

Whilst stating that UKIP would operate a points system, fair for all, and wouldn’t pull up the drawbridge, it does specify in black and white the policy of denying all state assistance, health, benefits and education to all immigrants for five years. The author acknowledges that this would greatly reduce immigration. Of course the truth is that it would effectively end all immigration.

It goes on to state that whilst ‘overseas workers’ would be prevented from taking minimum-wage jobs, ‘those already living here could apply as usual’ (note that IS a direct quote).

Speaking ‘competent’ English would be a condition of entry too – but what level is considered ‘competent’ or how this would be assessed is not stated.

Chapter 3 – trade

This again follows a pattern of attack, attack, attack, (smear) attack. Though the theme is trade, hidden in the text is an attack on safety and worker’s rights legislation, and once again, the main fault for unemployment and low wages lies with the hordes of immigrants. It follows the ‘lump of labour’ fallacy as expected, and doesn’t mention the fact that the highest proportion of jobs advertised to the EU relate to the lack of the required qualifications in the UK labour market, or that indeed all these jobs are advertised within the UK and open to anyone (with the right qualifications).

Chapter 4 – Government waste and lowering taxes.

This goes on about tax in the way that you would expect from a neo-liberalist party. Tax is an inherent evil, so the state will be dismantled in order to reduce it.

It does mention some policy, though confused and obviously, not costed. It confuses minimum wage with living wage, stating the lowest paid will be removed from income tax (as they are currently), whilst the top rate of tax will be reduced to 40% and start at £45k. Apparently earning this much ‘doesn’t make you wealthy’ – though you would be in the top 17%, earning almost double the average wage of £26,500 (that stat DOES come from the ONS).

There is the inevitable attack on green policies and wind power, claiming to quote stats from a report by Graham Sinden from the Environmental Change Institute – claiming, as somewhat curiously, that report is the only one not published online. The extract below however from another report by the same author, seems to completely contradict what was attributed to him:

Low wind speed conditions affecting 90% or more of the UK would occur in

around one hour every five years during winter;

The chance of wind turbines shutting down due to high wind speed

conditions is very rare – high winds affecting 40% or more of the UK would

occur in around one hour every 10 years.

Though the chapter is about tax, here the policy of building more gas-fired power stations fuelled through fracking is laid out. The process is ‘safe’ (!) and would ‘invigorate rural communities’ – though what this would do to our ‘green and pleasant land’ isn’t mentioned here. It quotes the American case, and says that shale would be a source of wealth and drop domestic fuel costs. It doesn’t mention that to reach those levels in the UK would require in excess of 50,000 fracking wells throughout the countryside, from urban areas to green belt and national parks.

And again, those to blame for the welfare bill are… immigrants, with the source of this scholarly information being… The Daily Express. So whilst it talks about cutting the welfare bill (of which only 0.8% is spent on foreign-born migrants – and most of that will be on the asylum seekers and refugees that UKIP says it will look after), other than its policy of effectively ending immigration, it doesn’t say how this will be achieved.

Chapter 5 – Ethical Foreign Policy and Aid.

Basically, according to the author, the EU developing its own foreign policy is to blame for wars, pestilence and famine, from Afghanistan to the Ukraine. The LibLabCons have repeatedly made errors with interventionist policies. UKIP intends to maintain the UK’s ‘seats’ at NATO and the UN but will retain full control of the armed forces, only intervening if there is direct threat to the UK or ‘moral grounds’ for doing so – no mention how this would affect standing treaties.

The international aid budget would be slashed. There seems to be naïve lack of understanding as to how aid works hand-in-hand with trade and cultural exchange – for example not understanding why developing countries give aid to each other. It talks at some length about the UK giving aid to India – when in fact this has already been terminated by mutual agreement.

It says that UKIP would not give aid to corrupt governments, and curiously not to governments that deny rights to LGBT people – the first and only mention.

Chapter 6 – investing in the NHS

As before the first part of the chapter is defence of UKIP and attacking the other parties, accusing them of responsibility for all the recent health scandals. Not forgetting the nasty EU with their Working Time Directive, meaning doctors can’t work more than 48 hours in a week.

And let’s continue to scapegoat immigrants of course, not just the myth of the ‘health tourist’, but also ‘foreign-born mothers’ (so we don’t know whether this includes residents or citizens as well) responsible for one-in-four births. ‘Serious diseases have been re-introduced to Britain’ it declares (!).

So how would UKIP save the NHS?

· Abolish ‘non-jobs’ in admin (redundancies – how many?)

· Free eye and dental checks to cut long term costs

· Open GP surgeries one evening a week

· Put nurse training back to on-the-job in the hospital as there is no need for nurses to have academic training

· Free at the point of delivery to UK-born ‘residents’ (citizens? nationals?) and immigrants who have been here for five years

· Scrapping car park charges

Two things are concerning about this – the classification of UK-born residents – as if being born in the UK does not automatically determine citizenship and nationality. Also, throughout the text, free is always immediately qualified by at the point of delivery.

As for the much publicised ideas of privatisation and procurement – no mention at all, other than to criticise the way it was done by Labour and the Tories.

Chapter 7 – Farmers and Fisheries

From this point forward we’ll skip over the EU did this, LibLabCon did this etc.

Some agreement here in the way the Common Fisheries Policy has been applied. The author doesn’t mention that one of the key reasons for the CFP is over-fishing and declining fish stocks, to the point where we could pass the point of no return on fish populations. The way industrial fishing is being done has not changed, so that rather than catching to quota (which on the face of it, may be impractical) the trawlers continue to trawl everything and then sort on deck, throwing dead and dying fish, not saleable due to quota, size or species, back into the sea to rot.

UKIP would take our territorial waters back to 200 miles (what is now classified as the Exclusive Economic Zone by the UN, not as stated) and exclude all other fleets, effectively stopping the livelihood of every North Sea fisherman from every other European country. All quotas would cease, all fish to be landed. It mentions security resource – so imagine how many navy ships would need to be on constant patrol to secure just under 300,000 square km of sea?

Farming – UKIP would continue farming subsidies but cap this at £150k p.a. and no have no set-aside award. De-regulation will consider ‘risk’ and ‘hazard separately, basically setting aside all the current safety and environmental protection laws specifically mentioning: nitrate vulnerable zones, electronic sheep tagging, white asbestos (!) and anti-BSE measures. They will ban the export of live animals for slaughter and control the import of bush meat (already illegal) as this can spread disease like ebola (it can’t).

Chapter 8 – Education

The chapter starts with building development. It will protect the green belt, build on brownfields, invest in roads, re-establish local bus routes and re-open branch lines. No idea where the money will come from or how this will be achieved. They will also guarantee free parking within town centres (imagine what that will do to congestion).

Policing: a no-nonsense zero-tolerance policy with police freed from paperwork (no mention how that will be done either). It will lengthen and enforce prison sentences, making space by deporting foreign convicts. It will remove us from the ECHR and deport criminals whether they have families in the UK or not. Again, no mention how this would be achieved or how the countries receiving the convicts and their families would react.

They will build more prisons, have full education and rehabilitation programs within prison and rehabilitation centres after release. No mention again of how this will be paid for or realised. Compulsory education? Special needs and adult teachers to be trained – in some respects laudable, in others practically impossible and laughably naïve.

Education – grammar schools. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, they believe that grammar schools are the magic bullet and will bring back strict selection and the school system of fifty years ago. Those ‘not suited to the academic’ will be placed in vocational training and apprenticeships.

University tuition fees will be scrapped for those who meet the academic requirements and go on government approved courses to fill skill gaps.

The focus here entirely is education to get a job and for the good of the state – not education as an end in itself. The result would be an extension of what is happening under the current system – only the privileged would be able to study what they want and the humanities and arts would eventually only be taught at a few universities. Everyone else would be fighting for the gov. approved and funded engineering and science courses. The university system would be quite deliberately destroyed through this policy.

Chapter 9 – Taking Pride in Britain

This chapter isn’t really a policy at all. It attacks multiculturalism, blaming it for everything from terrorism to FGM. UKIP is not ashamed but proud of Britain’s imperial history. Of course the PM should not apologise for the slave trade! The ‘sneering intelligentsia’ look down on the empire and have invented ideas of ‘post-colonial guilt’. The empire has benefited the world. It stands up for Christian values, and perhaps the denigration of these values by ‘left-wing atheists’ has caused ‘negative consequences’. There is a very heavy emphasis here on Christianity at the heart of British culture and law that came as a surprise.

Multiculturalism is determined and designed with the intention of ‘destroying’ the culture of the majority, condemning any idea of patriotism as ‘racism’. UKIP will stop funding for multiculturalist projects, stop multi-lingual formatting of government literature (except indigenous languages); teach pride of empire in schools.

Chapter 10 – UKIP in Government

UKIP follows the neo-liberalist idea of small government. It will close the following ministries:

International Development

Justice

Energy and Climate Change

Communities and Local Government

Culture Media and Sport

BIS

It would stop charities such as Child Poverty, War on Want, Oxfam, WWF for Nature and FoE from any political activity, reporting or lobbying.

They would ‘clean-up’ Westminster, controlling SPADs, quangos and tsars.

Aside from the damage that the removal of these departments would do to everything from efforts to combat climate change to investment in the arts, the total restriction of the activities of charities can only be seen as a deliberate attack on any form of organised dissent or non-commercial influence on government policy.

So, still not much in the way of actual policy or how this will be achieved, but wading through the ranting attacks and scapegoating, some new and very frightening policy intentions. And as Farage says in his blurb on the cover,

“This lively and authoritative guide sets the record straight about what UKIP really stands for…”

Unfortunately I can not give credit where it is due, for the work involved, as the author has witheld their details – however if you wish to see the original source of the article CLICK HERE

You will also find other informative and factual exposures of Ukip on the site.

It gives 100 Reasons Not To Vote For Ukip in May

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Hi,when Ukip published their banal list of 100 items as a guide to their delayed Manifesto I had intended to fisk it but time overtook me and it seems pointless now, with less than 100 days to go to election day.

An even better excuse for not doing the job is that amongst other examples Peter has fisked each item more than adequately and in a manner with which I agree.

Back in May, and many times since, I have remarked that “Ukip has nothing of any great substance, and even though we are promised a manifesto, I expect it will be the same rag-bag of parish suggestions box entries picked out of a tombola with no unifying theme.“ And as if on cue, we get 100 reasons to vote Ukip in the absence of actual policies. Mystic North strikes again! I’m not going to rubbish all of them since some of these random scattergun statements are desirable outcomes or policy instruments, but without context, they mean nothing. Let’s have a look at them shall we?

1. Get Britain out of the European Union

On this we are agreed. But this isn’t a policy. This is an ambition. As we have discovered, it ain’t simple, it ain’t quick and it will need an alternative. There are no magic wands and if you think it’s a simple process, you simply don’t understand what the EU is. Here I remind readers that Ukip does not have a Brexit policy.

2. Get control of immigration with an Australian-style, points-based immigration system

State bureaucrats second guessing the human resources needs of UK plc. What could possibly go wrong? Never mind that quota based systems can result in a net increase in immigration and that there is no evidence it could work for Britain since we are an entirely unique nation with entirely different geography. Ukip has failed to explain why their idea, plucked out of the air, would work, when successive administrations have failed in light of the complexities, costs and international treaty obligations. And in any case, we already have a points based system – and have since 2008.

3. £3bn more, annually, into our NHS which desperately needs it

From where exactly? And who says the NHS actually needs it? Could it just be that the pressure could be taken off the NHS by fixing the GP system and adult social care? Maybe, we don’t know, because Ukip hasn’t done any thinking on this. This link is where a Ukip policy should be looking.

Sounds good in principle. But who is going to pay? Are we looking at tax funded university or are we looking at tax breaks for industry to finance them? Is it tied in with a broader industrial strategy? If so, what would that look like? And what about the creative arts? Multimedia technology might sound like a non-degree, but the games industry is not one we can afford to ignore.

5. Pay greater attention to elderly care across the country

Is this a policy or a sneeze?

6. Cutting £9bn from our foreign aid budget

And what then do we fund overseas projects with, some of which are essential to slowing and managing immigration. It has been clear throughout that Ukip doesn’t understand what aid is or what it is even for.

7. Give the people the ability to “recall” their MPs, without parliamentary or MP approval

This is one of Dougie Carswell’s ideas which failed to pass while he was a Tory and given the state of voter engagement there is actually very little evidence this would be used often, if at all. It’s easy to fill a online petition with a few thousand signatures, but less easy to do it in a constituency. This really shows us just how shallow Ukip and Carswell are. We do have a big problem with our democratic deficit. It will require a range of integrated measures to tackle and this is just tinkering around the edges with bits of parliamentary procedure. Democratic reform ought to be a central pillar of a supposedly anti-establishment party – but it curiously is not.

8. Stopping our endless, foreign wars

You mean the ones that recently ended? How about a democratic mechanism to stop us getting sucked into them? No?

9. Promoting a British identity, as opposed to failed multiculturalism

How? And what does this achieve? And what is a British identity? How are you defining it?

10. Allowing existing schools to become grammar schools

And what do we do with the schools that don’t?

11. Ending PFI privatisation of the NHS, proliferated by Labour and the Tories

Ok, so we’re ripping up contracts now. What do we replace it with? In some places, it works.

12. Ensuring our armed services are properly equipped for when we do need them

Every government and every party has said that. What matters is the detail. As we outline here, that’s not so easy.

13. Establishing a Veteran’s Administration to look after those who looked after us

My energy bill doesn’t exceed £1000. And some of those green levies go toward better insulation which means we don’t have to build a new power station. So which “green levies” are we talking about?

20. Scrapping the poorly planned HS2 project, saving up to £50bn

How is NOT spending money a saving? As in, I’ve decided not to buy a £250,000 Rolls Royce, so I’ve “saved” £250,000 … ? But do what instead to ease pressure on existing transport infrastructure?

21. Opposing tolls on public roads – we’ve already paid for them

Oppose who? Presumably, you’d be in government, so who would you oppose? Who is suggesting road tolls? Why is a digital tolling scheme necessarily worse than the road tax scheme we presently have? Variable peak prices could reduce congestion.

22. Supporting bus passes for pensioners with the support of local authorities

This already happens. Presumably Ukip wants to expand that. How is that paid for?

23. Foreign vehicles to require Britdisc passes to contribute to our roads they use

Won’t that make imported goods more expensive?

24. Ending the use of speed cameras as revenue raisers – they should be a deterrent

They are. Most of them are now switched off because they cost too much to run and administrate. The rest of them serve as part of active traffic management systems. This might have been a popular policy in 1992, but this is not 1992.

25. Protecting our green belt

What with? A home defence force? Or are we talking abut planning? If so, what is Ukip’s planning policy and how does it propose to solve the housing shortage and affordability gap? Y’need a policy!

26. A central list of brownfield sites for developers

Like the one that already exists? And why should it be central? I thought Ukip favoured localism?

27. Houses on brownfield sites to be Stamp Duty exempt on first sale

There’s usually a good reason why brownfield sites remain inactive. Often ground contamination from previous use. It will take a lot more than stamp duty exemption. It will require a complete overhaul of the environmental impact assessment laws.

28. VAT relaxed for redevelopment of brownfield sites

See above. – and new build is already VAT exempt. Not forgetting that VAT is an EU tax and so we would be perfectly at liberty to abolish VAT if we wanted to.

29. Local referenda for large-scale development, if triggered by 5% of electorate

I am all in favour of more direct democracy, but this seems divorced from any context. It ought to be a part of a broader package of democratic reforms, but it’s just hanging there, apropos of nothing. Where’s the policy?

30. Introducing the ability for citizens to initiate national referenda

This is the closest Ukip gets to a big idea. But there needs to be safeguards against minority interest self-selection and mob rule. Referendums are not necessarily always an expression of public will. We will need to see details from Ukip. Which have not been forthcoming on this, or anything else.

31. Withdrawing from the European Court of Human Rights

And replace with what? Human rights are good. Fair trials and free speech and such.

I wasn’t aware the police were going easy on honour killings. They tend to be quick off the mark on murder. Does Ukip have evidence to the contrary? If so, that’s a very serious allegation and ought to be a central campaign issue. As to forced marriages, that is largely something an aspect of immigration with Asians returning to their place of origin to get married. What is Ukip’s immigration policy, beyond vague aspirations that is?

39. Reviewing the BBC license fee with a view to reducing it

To what? Why is Ukip different fro the Tories on this?

40. Taking non-payment of the license fee out of the criminal sphere

You mean make it a civil debt so people then end up with a CCJ and unable to borrow, and have bailiffs banging at their door instead? Doesn’t sound like progress to me. Have another think.

Oh honestly, who cares anymore? Any pub that was going under because of the smoking ban has done already. Pubs are nicer without smoker. I say that as a smoker. It’s not a big deal.

42. Opposing plain packs for cigarettes, which has had no impact where trialled

Well, it took to number 42 before we got to any hint of sense, but it’s hardly earth shattering.

43. Promoting the employment of young, British workers

How? That’s a vague ambition, not a policy.

44. Repealing the Agency Workers Directive

And replace it with what? This is an interesting one. One must first examine why the directive exists. It is a regulatory response to a long standing problem of rolling six month contracts, largely as a product of previous labour market interventions. AWD is merely another hammer-blow in a game of regulatory whack-a-mole. Ukip clearly doesn’t recognise this otherwise it would have offered a more substantial policy that gets to the root of the issue.

45. Encouraging councils to provide more free parking on High Streets

I’ll let Jackart in his inimitable style address this one. It’s a stupid policy by stupid people who aren’t interested in policy. And it will take more than that to revive the high street.Does Ukip have a policy on that?

Why not just devolve planning policy to councils? You’re all about localism, aren’t you?

47. Extending the right of appeal for micro businesses against Revenue and Customs

In what circumstances? Apropos of what?

48. Negotiating bespoke trade agreements with EU member states and worldwide

Erm, see the thing about the EU is we can’t negotiate with individual EU member states. The EU doesn’t work like that. That’s why eurosecptics want to leave it! That’s where it would help to have a Brexit policy! But Ukipists told us they didn’t need one! Doh! Here we have an anti-EU party that doesn’t EVEN know how the EU works. What are we paying Ukip MEPs for?

49. Reoccupying our seat at the World Trade Organisation

Well that’s kinda implied by way of leaving the EU. That’s why eurosceptics want to leave.What do we do when we get there?

50. Abolishing inheritance tax

Fine fair enough. But that’s £4bn you’ll have to cut when you just said you’ll spend 3bn extra on the NHS.

51. Introducing a 35p income tax rate between £42,285 and £55,000 – taking many public sector workers out of top rate of tax

Is this costed? That’s going to mean some major cuts. What are you cutting? The foreign aid budget can only be spent once over.

52. Setting up a Treasury Commission to make sure big corporations pay their way in taxes

Here is some pretty typical Ukip ignorance. Many of these corporations are not based in the UK. They use freedom of capital rules to evade taxes. This is an international problem that requires an international solution, not least as part of a Brexit policy. Ukip doesn’t have one.

53. Abolishing the Dept of Energy and Climate Change and rolling retained functions into DEFRA

So we’d then have a mega-ministry that looks after power stations and cattle and rivers. Why? Where is the logic?

54. Introducing an Apprenticeship Qualification for students who don’t want to do non-core GCSEs

What does Ukip think core GCSEs are? And how will an apprentice fare without them?

55. Scrapping the arbitrary 50% target for university attendance

This is one of Tony Blair’s most damaging policies. That’s why the Tories got rid of it almost immediately. Which tells us this entire list of “policies” is a cut and paste from obsolete material. Did Ukip even read their 100 reasons before publishing them?

56. Students from the EU to pay the same as International Students

Who said they don’t? And isn’t itimplied that by leaving the EU, all students would be categorised as international students?

57. Introducing more power for parents: OFSTED to investigate schools on petition signed by 25% of parents or governors

Governors can already demand an inspection.Parents only need petition governors.

58. Guaranteeing a job in the police, prison, or border forces for anyone who has served 12 years in the Armed Forces

So if you’ve done 12 years in the logistic corps, you get to be a policeman? No thanks.

59. Priority social housing for ex-service men and women, and those returning from service

60. Veterans to receives Veteran’s Card to ensure they’re supported in event of mental health care and more

In the event of mental health care? The biggest problem is veterans not seeking help. That is why they end up homeless.You need a comprehensive veteran care policy. Where is it?

61. All entitlements to be extended to servicemen and women recruited from overseas

Stupid and mega stupid. The whole point of separate arrangements is to encourage serving officers to return to their nation of origin, with a service pension as a means of international development. There are clear developmental advantages to remittances, but a retired officer class is an export of an administrative class that can help build good governance – and is a means of exporting our values. This is precisely what the Gurkhas were for, and extending entitlements to all means we now have to allow them residence along their families as well. Not very sensible for a party that wants to control immigration.

62. Establishing a National Service Medal for all those who have served

So if you’ve done 12 years in the catering corps, you get a medal?This cheapens the very idea of medals. They are given out for distinguished service. What is the point of this policy?

63. Encouraging local authorities to buy out their PFI contracts where affordable

Paid for with what? You’re massively cutting income tax, remember?

64. Ensuring GP’s surgeries are open at least one evening per week where demand permits

That’s one of the few things I’m not inclined to argue with. But there are contractual problems that means the GP service requires a complete redesign. Where is Ukip’s policy? Why does Ukip assume it can succeed in reforming it? Ukips health spokesperson, Louise Bours, admits “Honestly, I have no experience in health whatsoever”.

65. Ensuring migrants have NHS-approved health insurance until they have paid into the system for 5 years

So the NHS will need a whole new bureaucracy to approve all international health insurance products and a recovery department to chase international debts. This presumably means more delays and checks at ports. I don’t think they’ve thought this through.

66. Ending hospital car parking charges

Will likely result in less parking availability. It usually does.

67. Replacing bureaucratic watchdogs with locally elected health boards for more transparency

Can anybody honestly say that elected police commissioners have improved policing? Given the turnout at the recent PCC election in South Yorkshire, it is clear there is little public support for what are essentially overpaid press officers. Elections do not automatically equate with greater accountability or democracy.

68. Stopping the sale of patient data to big business

So Ukip opposes the sale of data from which extrapolations can be made which could improve drugs and patient care. They neglect to say why. There is a need to safeguard privacy, but we don’t want to miss out on the possible benefits of big data insights. You can complain about the shoddy way the government set about it with automatic opt-ins but let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water.

71. Encouraging and protecting whistle-blowing to get to the bottom of poor performance

This is not an unfair thing to say, but poor service delivery is a recurrent theme in British news with the same systemic common defects. Our corporate scale councils and local services are losing touch, are unaccountable and out of control. It will take more than whistle blowers to fix it. You’d need a comprehensive policy based on a detailed and evidence driven analysis. Something Ukip lacks the talent and mental architecture for.

72. Ensuring migrants have jobs and accommodation before they can come to the UK

Not unreasonable. But how will this be enforced? And what will it cost to enforce it? Got a policy?

73. Migrants will only be eligible for residency after 10 years’ working here

Migrants or asylum seekers? If migrants, what is the rationale for keeping them in limbo? Either they qualify for citizenship or they don’t. Does Ukip even know the difference?

74. Reinstating the primary purpose rule, bringing an end to sham marriage migration

75. No amnesty for illegal immigrants, or those gaining UK passports via fraud

Amnesties are generally a bad thing. They encourage people to try their luck and disappear into the woodwork until there is one. But we do need a policy to deal specifically with illegal immigrants. Thus far, Ukip doesn’t have one.

76. Protecting genuine refugees by returning to the UN Convention of Refugees principles

The UN Convention is the problem, creating asylum seekers who cannot be returned or ejected. I thought Ukip didn’t want that? We need either to renegotiate the Convention or withdraw from it. You’d need a detailed policy.

77. British companies to be prioritised to deliver foreign aid contracts

I’d rather companies delivering best value for money were prioritised. I want value for money and transparency.

78. Repealing the Climate Change Act 2008 which costs the economy £18n per year

No arguments there. But a cut of £18bn doesn’t pay for all Ukip’s ring-fences and extra spending.

79. Scrapping the Large Combustion Plant directive and redevelop UK power stations

We would do that by way of leaving the EU. It is an EU directive. This actually makes little difference since we have already closed, or have started to wind down LCPD affected plant which was due for renewal anyway. It’s ancient. Does Ukip even have an up to date energy policy?

80. Supporting the development of UK Shale Gas with proper safeguards

Rather a bland statement. As it happens, shale isn’t the big deal anybody thought it was for the UK, not least with oil prices now collapsing. There is something new on the horizon that we have heard nothing about from Ukip.

81. No new taxpayer subsidy for wind farms

What about addressing the old ones?

82. Leaving the Common Agricultural Policy

This is actually a consequence of leaving the EU. CAP is part of the EU. And what do we do instead? The EU will continue to subsidise food producers, so to compete, we will have to subsidise ours. You have already said you would keep the Single Farm Payment, but what is the rest of the CAP replaced with? You’d need a Brexit policy.

83. Allowing parliament to vote on GM foods

It can already do that. If it so chooses.

84. Reinstating British territorial waters

That is implied by leaving the EU. But what about management of those waters where British fleets have sold their quotas to foreign trawlers? You’d need a Brexit policy. And a fisheries management policy for that matter.

85. Food to be labelled with country of origin, method of production, method of slaughter and more

Like it does already? The problem is not labeling, but an epidemic of food fraud. You’d need international co-operation to deal with it, thus a comprehensive policy on trade.

86. Ban live animal exports for slaughter

Why? Is this just one of those feel-good populist policies?

87. Scrapping the Bedroom Tax

The “bedroom tax” is as much about reintegrating people from remote for industrial communities into the economy rather than warehousing them on benefits. It could use a little tweaking to make it fairer to the disabled, but it is a useful tool in the box to tack embedded and long term welfare dependency. It might be popular to say you’ll scrap it, but you also have to state what you would do instead.

88. Child benefit only for children permanently resident in the UK

Not unreasonable.

89. Future child benefit to be limited to first two children only

I wouldn’t argue with that, but it would be just one measure in a full programme of welfare reform. That would require a policy. Where is it?

The childrens’ welfare is paramount. The presumption is that the birth mother is best suited – and usually is. But this is why we have a family court system. That needs an overhaul. So where is Ukip’s policy?

91. Safeguarding visitation rights for grandparents

So the state is overriding parents judgement now?

92. Supporting a streamlined welfare system and a benefit cap

Like the Tories do already? What is Ukip’s welfare policy?

93. Enrolling unemployed benefits claimants into workfare or community schemes

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. This is a party that has no great vision. What we see above is ill thought out guesswork by Ukip, a patchwork with no unifying thread of thought, gaping holes, no applied expertise, no detail, no philosophy and not even a systematic approach to policy making. It is wholly superficial stuff, tinkering with the status quo on the basis of populist sentiment, which is no way to govern a country.

No doubt the Ukipist reaction to this post will be to say that the other party manifestos are equally amateurish and stupid. This is probably true. Were I so inclined I could have a field day driving a horse and cart through a Labor manifesto – and as for the Lib Dems, such would be beyond reasonable analysis and beyond satire. But the crucial distinction is this: Ukip professes to be something different. It isn’t.

Party politics has degenerated into two bald men fighting over a comb, each chasing a marginal constituency of floating voters based on what carries over well in the media. So what if anything in the above makes Ukip distinctive apart from a vaguely defined ambition to leave the EU?

One thing that has plagued politics since 1997 is the steady stream of soundbite announcements dressed up as policy, keeping the churnalists and twitterers fed – and rather than pushing a vision, politics is all done on premise of “fly the flag and see who salutes”. Enter Ukip doing exactly the same with no real agenda for change, no real idea of what they want – and not the first idea how to get it done.

You don’t have to be a policy analyst to see that no real thought has gone into Ukip’s policy making. This is back of fag packet stuff. We’re a matter of months from a general election and Ukip don’t know what they stand for – but expect us to believe they are an alternative. We can only assume that Ukip takes us for fools too.

The only thing I would add is that we were since promised that Ukip would get its act together and wunderkind Tim Aker would deliver the goods. If this is all Ukip has to offer, a mere 100 days from the election, then it becomes clearer that Aker was sacked after all. And rightly so. And since Suzanne Evans is responsible for releasing this garbage as current campaign material, she should resign.

Ukip Sales Literature So Frequently Distorts, which undermines what little credibility they might otherwise gain.
A technique so often selected by extremist organisations like Ukip, the BNP even The Nazi Party!

When you factor in the rebate, and payments the UK receives for agriculture and other subsidies, the actual figure is £33m a day.

Now, you may well argue that is still too much – and you are very welcome to. But the net cost of the EU to the UK is NOT £55m a day.

Notably, the first time Suzanne uses the £55m figure she adds a footnote that mentions the rebate. Subsequently in the book she just continually refers to the £55m figure.

2. The bit where nobody can visit Britain as a tourist without proving they have medical insurance.

“100% guaranteed to cut down queues at the airport!

Proof of private health insurance would also be a condition for tourists entering the UK.”

3. The bit where she thinks the whole of Britain may be concreted over soon

“Demand for housing has never been higher; we need to build a new house every seven seconds to keep up with demand from our growing population, a crazy state of affairs that puts our countryside and precious green space at risk. How long before Britain is completely concreted over at this rate and ours is no longer a green and pleasant land?”

If you build one house of the average size (84 square metres) every 7 seconds for the next 57 years, we reckon you could just about do it.

4. The bit where she describes James Delingpole as a journalist

5. The bit where she lists some Government departments Ukip would seek to abolish, including “the Ministry of Justice”

Newsflash: Re-merging the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office is not going to save billions of pounds.

6. The bit where meat imports are going to give us Ebola

“UKIP will also impose far stricter controls on the import of bush meat from wild animals hunted in Africa, Asia, and South America which is frequently brought into the UK and sold illegally in butchers and markets. Not only does the trade have serious implications for the extinction of species, it can also pose a health risk and lead to outbreaks of serious diseases – such as Ebola – and UKIP will not be bound by political correctness in tackling this dangerous trade.”

7. The bit where there is actually a chapter that imagines what it would be like if Ukip formed a majority Government.

It’s probably quite a way off. Even Suzanne Evans herself is only predicting that Ukip will win “at least 8 MPs” in 2015.

Should you read the book?

If you DO fancy reading it, you can buy the book for £6.99. All sarcasm aside, it is an interesting insight into the policies and mindset that are obviously resonating with voters at by-elections.

And if we were sitting in Tory or Labour offices scratching our heads about how to re-engage people who are thinking of voting Ukip, we’d DEFINITELY read it.